4.  The applicants were born in 1966 and 1974 respectively and live in Istanbul.
5.  The first applicant, Fevzi Saygılı, and the second applicant, Bülent Falakaoğlu, are, respectively, the owner and the editor of Yeni Evrensel, a newspaper published in Istanbul.
6.  On 22 February 2001 Yeni Evrensel published an article entitled “Abductions are on the increase”. It read:
“Yesterday Mr Büyükşahin, the deputy secretary-general of the HADEP (the People’s Democracy Party), drew attention to the illegal pressure and threats directed at the HADEP and stated that the authorities have still not provided an explanation as to the whereabouts of Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz[1], who have disappeared in Silopi. He went on to state that such threats and abductions had been carried out in Bingöl‑Karlıova and Şırnak-Cizre. Various people, identifying themselves as members of the security forces, had raided houses in Karlıova and detained Mustafa Boylu, Mehmet Özen, Remzi Genç and Selahattin Oge. Büyükşahin added that, subsequent to his detention, Selahattin Oge had been found lying in a coma next to a school. Following applications made to the prosecutors by the detainees’ relatives, the authorities had acknowledged these detentions. He further said that Mehmet Dilsiz, chairman of the HADEP’s Cizre branch, had been threatened, arrested and detained by the Gendarmerie Command on the basis of fake documents and without any evidence. Mr Büyükşahin stressed that the life of Mehmet Dilsiz, who had been threatened by the Şırnak Gendarme Brigade Colonel L.E, was in danger. Mr Büyükşahin speculated as to whether those who were currently threatening Mehmet Dilsiz were the same persons as those who had caused Tanış and Deniz to disappear. Alleging that the commander was threatening Mehmet Dilsiz, just as he had previously threatened Tanış, he asked what L.E.’s role had been in the disappearances of the HADEP’s Silopi members. Mr Büyükşahin condemned these incidents and called on the authorities to take up the victim’s cause and reveal the truth.”
7.  On 7 March 2001 Yeni Evrensel published an article entitled “Cizre incidents contain clues for Silopi”. This article also concerned the issue of forced disappearances in south-east Turkey. However, this article did not explicitly mention Colonel L.E.
8.  On 25 July 2001 the prosecutor at the Istanbul State Security Court filed a bill of indictment with that court and charged the applicants and Mr Veli Büyükşahin with offences defined in Section 6 § 1 of the Anti‑Terrorism Act (Law no. 3713), namely disclosing the identities of public officials who are involved in the fight against terrorism and thus rendering such persons targets for terrorist organisations. According to the prosecutor, the articles had endangered the life of Colonel L.E. In addition, he called for the application of Additional section 2 of the Press Act (Law no. 5680).
9.  In the course of the trial the applicants maintained that the content of the impugned articles remained within the limits of freedom of expression. They relied on the case-law of the Court of Cassation and the European Court of Human Rights.
10.  On 9 April 2002, the Istanbul State Security Court delivered its judgment. It acquitted the applicants in respect of the charges concerning the second article and convicted them in respect of the charges regarding the first article. The court considered that the first article was written, under the guise of news, with the aim of presenting Colonel L.E. as a target for terrorist organisations. The court found that the applicants bore responsibility for publishing the remarks made by Mr Büyükşahin. The first applicant was ordered to pay a “heavy fine” of 757,080,000 Turkish liras (TRL) and the second applicant was ordered to pay a heavy fine of TRL 378,540,000. The first-instance court further ordered, in accordance with Additional section 2 § 1 of Law no. 5680, the temporary closure of the newspaper for a period of three days.
11.  The applicants and the prosecutor appealed. In their appeal petition, the applicants requested the Court of Cassation to hold a hearing. As to the merits of their appeal, the applicants maintained, inter alia, that the article in question was a news item of major public interest and that all they had done was to impart - in a manner consistent with their obligations and responsibilities - information on a matter of public interest. In addition, they maintained that the fine imposed on them was excessive and complained about the application of Additional section 2 § 1 of Law no. 5680.
12.  On 3 July 2003, the Court of Cassation, pursuant to Article 318 of the Criminal Procedure Code, rejected the request for a hearing and upheld the judgment.
13.  The closure order for the newspaper was executed from 24 to 27 September 2003. The first applicant paid the fine on 24 January 2004. The second applicant paid on 19 November 2004.